It's all aboard the crazy train as Aussie rock locomotive Wolfmother builds up steam to rock out at the inaugural Pandemonium Festival this April.
Laden with a full complement of classic rock-inspired anthems, Wolfmother will be in ideal company performing alongside the likes of Alice Cooper, Blondie and Deep Purple."It's good to see Blondie, Alice Cooper and all the rock icons coming together to put on a show," Wolfmother's Andrew Stockdale says.
"I played with Deep Purple a couple months ago at Sweden Rocks. I was watching from side of stage, and they played 'Black Night', and I was like, 'holy sh.t, I can't believe I'm watching Deep Purple play 'Black Night'.
"When I started this band, I had that vinyl and was listening to 'Black Night' thinking 'this is a cool direction I might take, this whole classic rock, hard rock, early metal thing'. It was one of those full-circle moments."
2024 marks 20 years of Wolfmother and in that time, there have been a number of full-circle moments for Andrew. "So far this year, I've been thinking this is when Wolfmother started in 2004, so I'm getting a bit of a nostalgia trip because 20 years has got a sound to it," he laughs.
"The first gig we did was Vic In The Park in Sydney as Wolfmother, and not long after that a guy. . . sent us an email asking us to come play at The Zoo [Brisbane] and we were blown away that someone would pay for our flights.
"It's funny, 19 years later I played at his venue in Sydney on Parramatta Road, and I was like, 'man, you're the guy who flew us to our first gig in Brisbane!'"
Twenty years, six studio albums, three kids and more than a thousand live gigs later, Andrew and Wolfmother remain prominent figures of Australian rock.
As for what comes next, Andrew says he's been entertaining a number of ideas, among them a concept album devoted to his favourite equipment and gear. "I've been taking notes and writing a bunch of things down," he says. "I'm not saying I'm going to do this, but I was thinking of writing a record based around all the equipment I like.
"Look at the pedal called Fuzz Face, write a song called 'Fuzz Face'; write a song called 'Big Muff'. An ode to all the cool pedals and amps and stuff. Just avoiding any kind of personal or emotional stuff, so what about something like an ode to cool equipment? It's a good theme, I think."
These days, rocker/ family man Andrew balances his Wolfmother commitments with his fatherly duties, making no excuses or apologies for the life path he has chosen.
"You can chase money and do things you don't want to do and think that's the best way to go, or you just do what you want to do and hope it works out," he says. "I'm an example of that. I've raised three kids and put a roof over their head playing rock and roll. Doing what you love to do.
"People give me sh.t because I’m not a f...ing lawyer or a doctor or an accountant or some crap, or because I've got different people in the band or whatever and I'm like, 'well, I f...ing survived and I'm making a living out of it', so f... them," he laughs.
Pandemonium Music Festival 2024 Tour Dates
Sat 20 Apr - Caribbean Gardens (Melbourne)Thu 25 Apr - Cathy Freeman Park (Sydney)
Sat 27 Apr - Doug Jennings Park (Gold Coast)
Sun 28 Apr - Sandstone Point Hotel (Brisbane)*Blondie not performing
Pandemonium Music Festival 2024 Line-up
Alice CooperBlondie
Placebo
Deep Purple
Wheatus
The Psychedelic Furs
Dead Kennedys
Gang Of Four
Palaye Royale
Wolfmother
Cosmic Psychos
Gyroscope
and introducing Thai solo artist Petch
